Here I will be posting some of the material we use for Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. Some of the names are very confusing, and so is the story, but it is a really funny play.
Quince - the carpenter. His name comes from "quines", wedges of wood that are used to position door frames or floorboards in houses. Bottom - the weaver weaves thread into cloth. To do this he uses a "bottom", a reel onto which the thread is wound Flute - the bellows mender, sounds like the high, flute like noise made by the bellows that are used to air a fire. Starveling - the tailor is so called because tailors were stereotypically thought to be thin and therefore looked starved. Snout - the tinker, makes, mends and sells metal kitchen utensils. his name comes from the spout of a kettle. Snug - the joiner, makes wooden furniture and needs to ensure that every joint is a snug fit.
Look at the adjectives below and match them to the Workmen. Give a reason for your choice. Also state what part each man will play in Pyramus and Thisbe.
over-confident
macho
a bully
timid
enthusiastic
pompous
over-eager
slow-witted
cooperative
Think of any popular names (or make up your own funny ones) for people in other professions -
eg carpenter = chippy
electrician = sparky Funny ones
architect = Column
chef/cook = Peter Pan
Another good activity is to read through the argument between Hermia and Helena when they both insult each other. I then asked the students to make a list of the insults in their exercise books and give them a rank 1-5 (one being a terrible insult and 5 the weakest). It is like a star rating so there could be 3 insults with a 5, 4 with a 3 etc etc. then we discuss why one person might think that "painted maypole" is such a terrible insult, while someone else thinks it is not a bad one.
Alternatively you could put them in order from the worst insult to the weakest, and then compare the order they have been put by each student.
Here I will be posting some of the material we use for Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. Some of the names are very confusing, and so is the story, but it is a really funny play.
Activities: Lovers Mechanicals Insults
In the play there are three main groups of characters :
The four characters who make up the two couples in Midsummer Night's Dream are :
Lysander - Hermia - Demetrius - Helena
The lovers : Lysander - Hermia - Demetrius - Helena (their relationships at the start of the play)
The mechanicals - (the actors)
The fairies
Our performance of the fairy scene for all of the secondary school went really well - congratulations all!
The Mechanicals (names and derivations) top
Quince - the carpenter. His name comes from "quines", wedges of wood that are used to position door frames or floorboards in houses.
Bottom - the weaver weaves thread into cloth. To do this he uses a "bottom", a reel onto which the thread is wound
Flute - the bellows mender, sounds like the high, flute like noise made by the bellows that are used to air a fire.
Starveling - the tailor is so called because tailors were stereotypically thought to be thin and therefore looked starved.
Snout - the tinker, makes, mends and sells metal kitchen utensils. his name comes from the spout of a kettle.
Snug - the joiner, makes wooden furniture and needs to ensure that every joint is a snug fit.
Look at the adjectives below and match them to the Workmen. Give a reason for your choice. Also state what part each man will play in Pyramus and Thisbe.
Think of any popular names (or make up your own funny ones) for people in other professions -
eg carpenter = chippy
electrician = sparky
Funny ones
architect = Column
chef/cook = Peter Pan
Insults top
Another good activity is to read through the argument between Hermia and Helena when they both insult each other. I then asked the students to make a list of the insults in their exercise books and give them a rank 1-5 (one being a terrible insult and 5 the weakest). It is like a star rating so there could be 3 insults with a 5, 4 with a 3 etc etc. then we discuss why one person might think that "painted maypole" is such a terrible insult, while someone else thinks it is not a bad one.
Alternatively you could put them in order from the worst insult to the weakest, and then compare the order they have been put by each student.